Between The Heat and The Chill
by DelenaFlames
Summary: Dying Cancer patient Elena Gilbert finds her life turned upside down as she is forced to choose between two lives she never would've believed had existed, and it all comes down to her being the doppelganger maiden of fire and ice. AU in which Damon and Stefan are fire and ice demons, not vampires. Defan centered. Delena/Steroline


I was coughing hard as the doctor discussed my condition with my mother. It was getting worse, for all I knew.

My name is Elena Gilbert. I'm sixteen years old, and I have leukemia. Stage four. I don't know why everyone keeps praying that I'll come out of this, that somehow I will just magically get better.

All I want to do is just lay down and die. Things have definitely changed since the days of me being an optimistic ray of sunshine. Going on dates with Matt and trying on the cheerleading outfits seem like distant memories now.

I wish I could just wither up and die already.

It was ten o'clock at night, and my mother and doctor were by my bed, talking to me.

"Would you still like to be on the chemo treatments?" Doctor Fell asked me.

I shook my head no, since I was too weak to speak and my mouth was drier than the Sahara.

My mother was crying hard while rubbing her thumb over my hand. I remember when I had stage two cancer. I was crying hard. And I never stopped, pretty much. But now that I know I'm a hopeless case, I won't even bother wasting my last day or two on earth feeling sorry for myself.

My father was staring out the window, completely still, but his hands quivered occasionally. I was tired. They were tired. Everybody was tired. But nobody wanted to leave me because I was going to die soon.

I gathered up the remaining strength I had left inside me, then whispered, "Mom, dad. Go home. I'll fight for my life so that I'll still be here tomorrow."

They both stared at me, as their eyes became glossy and watery. "Honey...you might not...pull through the night..." my mother whispered back.

I put my hand on top of hers, gave her a small smile and said, "I'm going to see you tomorrow morning."

My father and mother hugged me tightly, and then kissed me on the forehead. They both said a prayer, and then left the room. Doctor Fell had tears in his eyes, but I could tell he was trying hard to hide them.

"You stay strong, Lena." he said, his voice cracking at the end. I watched as he left the room, and then shut the door.

I stared at the ceiling, then let the darkness of sleep overpower me.

* * *

There were two things right next to me. They were...beautiful. But had a horrifying aura about them. Where these the angels of death that have come to take me away?

"No. We're not angels. But that pretty boy over there tries to look like one." said the demon boy with the purest blue eyes I've ever seen. His voice was low and velvety, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

The other demon boy with emerald green eyes glared at the other demon. "Shut up, Damon." he growled. His voice was calm, with an edge to it.

The demon with red eyes- or, Damon...- stood up. In the moonlight, I could see his alabaster skin, and a strongly defined jawline. He had raven black hair and was wearing all black. "Listen, Stefan. I'm just working my way down to get her to join my side." Damon snapped.

Stefan, the demon with emerald eyes, dark brown spiked hair, and the exact same outfit as Damon except it was all white, touched my hand. "You don't want to join him and his little army." he said, stroking my hand. I shivered at his touch, and then sat up a bit in the hospital bed.

Damon sat on the end of the hospital bed, and then rolled his eyes at Stefan. "Well, Elena, you don't want to join his army. You'll be freezing your ass off the whole time." he said. "But if you join mine...you'll always be warm. And cozy. And-"

Stefan let go of my hand, then pushed Damon off the bed. They both started to fight. I stared at them blankly, confused. What were they talking about? Armies...and freezing and staying warm...And their names were so different. What did they mean? And how did Damon know what I was thinking? My thoughts were disrupted when both boys were snarling at each other, Damon's hands around Stefan's throat while Stefan was pressing harder on a knife that was now piercing Damon's stomach.

I jumped off the bed, and I was surprised that I was able to stand. I also noticed that I had my long, chocolate brown hair again. I ran to the door, but when I opened it, all I could see was darkness.

"Where do you think you're going?" said a voice right in my ear. It was Stefan.

"Come on, we won't hurt you." said another voice in my other ear. It was Damon.

"You guys are sick! What have you done?" I said, still staring out the door.

"I'm fine, see?" Damon said. He turned me around to look at him. He pulled up his shirt, and where the knife went through was absolutely nothing, not even a scar. "Join my army, Elena." he whispered. "And you'll be indestructible."

"Oh, give it a rest, Damon." Stefan said, pulling me away from him. "Elena, join my army. And you'll be unstoppable." he said, holding me close to him.

"I have no clue about what either of you are talking about!" I said, pulling away, though I didn't really want to. "You both are crazy. Mad. I'm not joining either of your stupid armies. In fact, I don't want to hear another word about armies until you both tell me who and what you are, how you know who I am, and why I'm not in bed, bald and weak, dying of leukemia!" I snapped.

Damon and Stefan both stared at me blankly. There was about five minutes of silence, until Stefan broke it. "My name is Stefan. I'm seventeen years old, and I'm a demon of ice. We know who you are, because we've been sent to take you to fight with one of our armies."

"I'm Damon. I'm twenty four years old, and I'm a demon of fire. The reason why you're not in bed dying of cancer...is because you already died of it in your sleep."

I felt my eyes widen, then my throat tighten. I wasn't ready to be dead yet. I regretted wanting to die right away... I felt myself drop to the floor, on my knees, and began sobbing uncontrollably. I heard sighs from above, then two hands on my back.

"There, there child." Stefan said, holding me in his lap. "No need to cry."

"I'm dead!" I cried into his shirt. He was freezing cold, but it didn't bother me too much.

"Give her to me, you ice cold freak." said Damon, taking me out of Stefan's lap and placing me in his own. Damon was warm, heat flowing from him freely. I continued to cry into his shirt, when Stefan grabbed me back.

"She's mine, you ruthless bag of charcoal." he hissed.

"No, give her to me!" yelled Damon, grabbing me back.

Stefan took me back, then placed me on the chair. He then tackled Damon, and they both tore at each other like dogs. I saw as Damon bared sharp, pointy teeth at him, then threw him at the wall. Stefan came back, though, and pushed Damon to the floor.

"Stop it!" I yelled, wiping tears from my eyes. Damon took a dagger from his pocket, then slashed Stefan with it in the neck. Blood pooled on the floor. I stared in horror as Stefan took a wooden stake and jabbed it into Damon's chest. I watched right before my eyes as more crimson blood mixed with the blood on the floor. Then, Damon tore the stake out from his chest, and threw it to the side, "You missed," he said to Stefan. I stared as their skin both healed up quickly. Before either could attack again, I jumped between them. I slipped on the mixed blood, hitting the ground. They both kneeled down next to me.

"HA! SHE'S IN MY BLOOD! SHE'S MINE!" they both yelled. "NO! SHE'S IN MINE!" they yelled again.

"Shut up! I'm in both of yours!" I shrieked.

Damon helped me sit up, then pulled away from me. "Drink my blood," he said.

"No. Why on earth would I do that?" I said, crawling away.

"Drink mine. Pretend it's that vanilla coffee that you like from Starbucks." said Stefan, crawling after me.

"What are you talking about?" I whispered.

"I promise you will love it. Here, try it." said Damon, holding a bleeding wrist out to me.

"Get away! I don't want either of your blood! I just want to go to Heaven!"

They both dropped to the ground. I crawled over to them. Stefan was whispering something. "What?" I breathed, putting my ear next to his lips.

"Don't say the H word." he whispered.

"What? Heaven?"

His eyes flashed a sickly green.

"Don't say it, or you'll be stuck in this room forever." he whispered quieter.

I stopped saying it, then pulled him up. He pulled me close to him, then stared into my eyes, as he said, "Elena, we're soulmates. So join my army, so that we can be together forever."

"Don't you dare give her that idea. You know that she's my soulmate." Damon growled, pushing himself up.

"He just wants you to join his army. But you're really my soulmate." said Stefan.

Now they were talking about soulmates? What in the hell was up with these guys?

"I'll prove it to you, Elena. Kiss him, then kiss me. You'll feel something when you do." said Damon.

"I don't want to kiss a demon!" I said, pulling away from Stefan. But Stefan was already pressing his lips to mine. He was a bone-chilling cold, and his lips were hard and cold. I didn't like it at all. I pulled away from Stefan, then crawled over to Damon.

"You see? Nothing. You didn't like it." he said, holding me close.

"You didn't give her a chance to get used to it!" Stefan argued.

But that was when icicles hit the window. Stefan stood up, then opened the window. "I'll be back," he growled, then jumped out the window. Damon slammed the window shut, then looked at me.

"Please, Elena. You have to believe me. I'm the right choice. I'm the one you need to be with. Together, we can fight and bring justice to the fire world. Everything would be perfect and passionate. But if you choose Stefan...you'll ride hard, stone cold horses. You'll have to stay in the cold, freezing and watching for people. It'd be terrible. But if you're with me, and my army...it'll be an adventure. You see, if you don't choose one of our armies before the sun comes up, you'll die for sure..." he trailed off.

_"I don't believe you."_ I said, laying back down on the hospital bed with resolution.


End file.
